A lawyer stood up to cross-examine Jesus, to put Him to the test. It was Satan who first tried to put Jesus to the test. This he did after Jesus' baptism when the Spirit led Him out into the wilderness for forty days of fasting. Now a lawyer stands up to do what Satan had done- to test Him. The lawyer comes at the Lord with a question: "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"

Now there are two kinds of questions. There are those questions that a rise from a pure heart and mind. These are the questions that seek after the truth. Then there are questions that are not at all interested in the truth. Instead these questions are designed to trap and ensnare the one to whom they are addressed and conversely to free and excuse the questioner. The lawyer's question was of this type. In fact, as the dialogue between our Lord and this lawyer unfolds, Luke makes it clear that the lawyer's motive in asking these questions of Jesus was "to justify himself."

Notice how our Lord deals with the lawyer's questions. He does what He does often with questions that are put to Him. He turns the question back on the person who asks it in the form of another question. So in response to the lawyer's question, Jesus throws him two more questions: "What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?" The lawyer is no dummy; he knows his Bible. So he answers by quoting the Old Testament: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." Jesus, in effect, says "good answer." He says, "You have answered rightly; do this and you will live." And that's the rub! It is not enough to know what the Law says. The Law requires not merely knowledge but obedience. The Law demands that we actually do what it says.

Who can do what the Law requires? Who can love the Lord God with the complete and utter totality of all the heart, soul, strength, and mind? The law never deals with us in fractions. It is not enough to say I love God with 90 or even 99.9% of my heart, soul, strength, and mind. The law is never satisfied with anything less than perfection. The law always leaves us accused and judged.

The lawyer does what lawyers often do he looks for loopholes. He looks for a way to impose a "statue of limitation" upon the commandments of God. Like the person, who says, "How far can I go before it becomes adultery, murder, theft, or lying?" The lawyer seeks to qualify the law. He looks for a way to make the law doable. He latches on to the word "neighbor." Our president pressed the issue "What do you mean by sexual contact?" as a way of trying to excuse his adultery. The lawyer takes a similar tact: What do you mean by "neighbor"? "Who is my neighbor?"

Jesus then tells the story of the Good Samaritan. An unnamed man travels from Jerusalem to Jericho. He is overtaken by thugs who beat him, rob him, and leave him to die. It's the stuff you read about in the newspaper or watch on the evening news. There is nothing especially exceptional about the event. But then the story does take something of an unexpected turn. A priest and a Levite, religious professionals, come along and instead of offering aid they pass by on the other side of the road. Don't be too hard on the priest and the Levite. They could have had good reasons for passing by. Maybe they thought that the man was dead. If that were the case, contact with a dead body would have rendered them unclean and disqualified them from service in the temple. It could be that they had been warned that this road from Jerusalem to Jericho was a prime place for robbery and that robbers often had one of their own feign injury or illness to attract the unsuspecting and catch them off guard.

For whatever reasons, the priest and the Levite pass by. They leave the man unattended. Jesus continues His story by telling of how a Samaritan came down that same road and saw the victim lying there alone. This Samaritan, Jesus said, "had compassion" on the man. He did what the moment required. He poured oil and wine of the beaten man's wounds. He wrapped him with bandages and transported him to inn. And if that were not enough, he left the motel with his own credit card number. This Samaritan took full responsibility for the wounded man. He does not waste any time arguing with himself over whether or not he is obligated to stop or take care of this fellow. He simply does it.

Jesus then turns to the lawyer with a final question: "So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?" The answer is self-evident: "He who showed mercy on him." Then Jesus says, "Go and do likewise."

The lawyer came to Jesus with a law question, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Law questions can only receive law answers. If you ask the wrong question of God, you will never get the answer you are looking for. Our Lord leads the lawyer with his questions down the path of the law until every route of escape is blocked. The lawyer must come to see that he cannot justify himself, that he cannot whittle God's law down to a size that he can handle. The lawyer must come to see that himself as helpless and as in need of a neighbor as the man who had fallen victim to the robbers on the Jericho road. The lawyer must come, as we all must, to see Jesus as the Good Samaritan who did what needed to be done for us-even dying in our place on the cross. The Jews of the first century had a saying that went like this "He who eats the bread of a Samaritan is like one who eats the flesh of swine." Jesus was not afraid to associate with Samaritans. He does not disown the title "friend of sinners." He does not shun us in our sin but takes that sin and the judgment it deserves into His own body and answers for it in His death. By His atoning death on the cross, He has given us the inheritance of eternal life. It is not something that can be won or earned by human efforts-not even by being a good neighbor. It is an inheritance, that is, it is a gift that we are given in the blood of Jesus Christ.

The life that we now live, we live by faith in Him. We can love the neighbor only because we have been first loved by the Son of God. This is exactly what the Apostle John says in today's Epistle: "In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God loved us, we also ought to love one another."

Faith receives the love that God has for us in His Son. It is a gift and there is only one thing to do with a gift and that is receive it. So faith lays hold to all that our Lord gives us as He washes away our sin in Holy Baptism, as He declares us pardoned and freed from guilt in His Absolution, and as He feeds us with His body and blood to strengthen us with forgiveness, life, and salvation. Faith that receives then gives in love that pours itself into the needs of the neighbor. Such love does not make us Christian but flows instead from faith in Jesus Christ who alone is our Redeemer. So we rightly pray that the salutary gift of Jesus' body and blood will strengthen us in faith toward God and in fervent love for one another. Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus to life everlasting. Amen.